FTSE 100 set to close out 2015 around 6,000 - London Report

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THE FED “feel good factor” and the Santa rally that historically has resulted in 80 per cent of December trading sessions closing positive have not been enough to sustain positive numbers for the FTSE.

On Friday the FTSE 100 closed down 50 points at 6052, bringing to an end the brief surge following the Federal Reserve US interest rate hike.

This week there is scant scheduled company announcements, although UK gross domestic product numbers on Wednesday will reveal how the country did in the third quarter of 2015.

Figures are expected to confirm expectations of expansion at 0.5 per cent quarter-on-quarter and 2.3 per cent year-on-year.

Many economists are confident there will have been a rise in the final three months of the year however.

Global Insight economist Howard Archer reckons GDP growth will have improved to 0.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the run up to Christmas, resulting in overall UK GDP growth of 2.4 per cent in 2015, with 2016 overall keeping to that same number for growth.

Archer said: “We had pencilled in GDP growth of 0.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter, but the strength of retail sales in November suggests that it could come in higher.”

The quiet time for the market mean that the equity will mostly be moving on sentiment according to Chris Beauchamp, market analyst at spread betting firm IG.

Beauchamp said: “As to the period between Christmas and the new year, the light volumes that will prevail will make it difficult to predict whether bulls or bears will emerge with the upper hand for the final sessions of the year.”

Looking back over the course of the year housebuilder Taylor Wimpey looks like it will be the best performer in the FTSE 100 for 2015.

Its shares have risen 48 per cent since the start of the year boosted by rising house prices and the Help to Buy government loan scheme for first-time homebuyers.

Investors will be hoping the push by the government means 2016 is as successful.

At the other end of the scale the FTSE 100 miners have been some of the worst performing of the year.

Anglo American’s shares are down more than 75 per cent for the year as a whole making it the big loser in the blue-chip London index in 2015.